Garage Door

State police are looking for a pickup truck that rammed another vehicle through a garage door Friday night. It was about 10:30 Friday night when the pickup drove into a driveway on Anthony Terrace, state police said. The truck struck a car in the driveway, pushing the car through the garage door. The car was damaged on the front end and left quarter-panel, and the garage door was torn from its frame.

By MIKAELA PORTER, mmporter@courant.com and The Hartford Courant, April 21, 2014

FAIRFIELD – Emergency personnel lifted a pick-up truck to save an elderly man who was wedged between the vehicle and a garage door just before 6 p.m. Sunday. Franc Us, 86, was taken to Saint Vincent's Medical Center with severe injuries, according to a police press release Emergency services responded to call from a neighbor on Stratfield Road who heard Us calling for help. Us was wedged between the door of his pick-up truck and the doorjamb of the garage. Fairfield assistant fire Chief Erik Kalapir said Sunday night that emergency services personnel decided to lift up the truck by hand after considering using the jaws of life, removing part of the garage wall or using air bags to lift the truck.

The American dream promised a car in every garage, and an invention of the 1940s literally helped open the door. But along with convenience and security, the automatic garage-door opener introduced a new hazard to the American home. The doors have caused death and serious injury, especially among young children who become trapped beneath them. Since 1982, for example, 48 children have been killed by doors powered by automatic openers, says the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission.

I realize it's the job of marketing people to convince consumers that they just can't live without certain items they never knew they wanted, but the latest just leaves me incredulous. It's an automobile ad showing two women driving their cars into their garages and opening up their two hatchbacks. When they then close their garage doors, one mechanism scrapes one raised hatch, while the other driver has a dial in her car by which she can prevent the back from raising as high, thus preventing her car from being scraped.

An Old Saybrook teen is charged with stealing a garage-door opener and using it to repeatedly open and close an Old Lyme man's garage door last December. Manuel Jesse Pont, 16, of Middletown Avenue, is charged with a felony count of burglary and a lesser charge of larceny. Pont was charged late Monday on a warrant by state police in Westbrook. He was released on $1,000 non-surety bond and ordered to appear in Superior Court in New London on Monday. Pont is charged with taking a $50 garage-door opener from a car parked in a driveway on Oak Ridge Drive in Old Lyme.

Someone kicked in a panel on a garage door at a construction site on Fern Street Thursday. The attempted break-in occurred at a property known as Hamilton Heights, the site of an assisted-living housing complex expected to open in 1998. Police said they do not believe that entry was gained, and nothing was reported missing.

A grill was stolen Saturday from the porch of an Old Waterbury Road house, police said. The incident is being investigated. A Main Street resident reported the theft of lighting fixtures and a garage door from his property Saturday, police said. The theft is being investigated. Arrests Oct. 16: Robert G. Ciemniewski, 26, of 7 Irving St., Plainville; charged with falsely reporting an incidentand evading responsibility. He is accused of falsely reporting the cause of damage to his vehicle.

A thief who stole a car from the driveway of a house in the 400 block of Oakwood Avenue early Friday left a swath of destruction, police said. The thief bashed in the garage door, damaged a lawn ornament, drove over the lawn and struck another car. The theft was reported just after midnight, police said. The stolen car, a 1988 Saab, was worth about $5,000. The damage was estimated at $1,000, police said.

An Iron Works Road home was discovered broken into while the owner was on vacation. Trooper Joseph Quilty said the burglary was reported by a caretaker Saturday morning. The burglar apparently entered through a window and left through the garage door, Quilty said. A small television and a remote control were missing, he said. It was uncertain when the break-in occurred. Anyone with information about the burglary is asked to call Quilty, the Killingworth resident trooper, at 663-1132.

Police are investigating a burglary that occurred sometime late Wednesday or early Thursday in which about $1,200 worth of goods was stolen from a house while the residents were asleep upstairs. The burglar got into the 33 Blueberry Lane house through the garage door, which was left partially open, police said. A car stereo was taken along with credit cards from a pocketbook found in the car, police said. Power tools, a racing bicycle and ski boots were also taken from the basement.

By DAVID OWENS, dowens@courant.com and The Hartford Courant, October 29, 2013

FARMINGTON — Police say a man stopped for drunken driving Saturday night later broke into the garage where his car had been towed, retrieved it and drove home to Waterbury. Officer Matthew Keepin said he spotted Jermel Pierre Johnson, 32, driving while drinking about 10 p.m. Saturday. He stopped Johnson and charged him with drunken driving, drinking while driving, possession of less than half an ounce of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia and failure to drive to the right.

MANCHESTER - After recent incidents of carbon monoxide poisoning, Fire Chief Robert Bycholski issued a primer Monday on how to prevent exposure to the deadly gas. On Friday, seven residents were taken to the hospital for treatment of accidental CO poisoning. "The scenes that played out Friday morning," Bycholski wrote in a news release, "are a reminder of why everyone needs a carbon monoxide detector. " Following is the rest of Bycholski's news release: Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless, tasteless gas that is produced when something burns incompletely, so a natural gas or oil fired furnace, wood or pellet burning stove, kerosene heater and all gasoline powered equipment (automobile, snow blower, lawn mower and generator)

A Waterbury man was arrested on Monday night in connection with a series of car burglaries in the Shepard Hill Road area, police said. Matthew Kelly, of 105 Walnut St. in Waterbury, was arrested after he was spotted in the driveway of a Shepard Hill Road home and tried to run from officers, police said. He was charged with first-degree burglary, second-degree burglary, four counts of third-degree burglary, two counts of fifth-degree larceny, four counts of sixth-degree larceny and third-degree criminal mischief.

Graffiti in the form of spray-painted racial slurs, homophobic remarks and sexually explicit drawings were discovered at 11 different properties early Friday morning, police said. A sexually explicit picture was also painted on a rock at Windsor High School Thursday, police said. The vandal or vandals used black spray paint and painted cars, mailboxes, a garage door and the side of a house, police said. The graffiti was found on Timothy Terrace, Michael Lane and West Street. Police are looking for suspects and anyone with information is asked to call 860-285-1902.

BY HILDA MUÑOZ, hmunoz@courant.com and The Hartford Courant, April 15, 2013

An 18-year-old and two juveniles were arrested over the weekend after allegedly damaging the Rockledge Country Club with an axe. Adam Kahn and the two juveniles were charged with conspiracy to commit first-degree burglary, possession of burglary tools, second-degree criminal trespass, first-degree criminal mischief and sixth-degree larceny. Officers dispatched to the country club at 11:43 p.m. on Saturday found a large axe lying several feet from the building. Two garage door windows had been smashed out. One of the doors had a large cut that appeared to have been made from the axe. A police dog led officers to 49 Belcrest Road, where Adam Kahn lives, police said.

An 18-year-old man was arrested over the weekend in connection with an attempted burglary at a Longmeadow Road residence. Police said Jonathan Lewis, of Morgan Lane in Hamden, was one of two people who attempted to break into the home late Saturday night. An investigation revealed that they tried to force their way in through the garage, police said. They damaged a garage door, door frame, locking device and screen window. The males fled on foot towards Laconia Avenue, police said.

I realize it's the job of marketing people to convince consumers that they just can't live without certain items they never knew they wanted, but the latest just leaves me incredulous. It's an automobile ad showing two women driving their cars into their garages and opening up their two hatchbacks. When they then close their garage doors, one mechanism scrapes one raised hatch, while the other driver has a dial in her car by which she can prevent the back from raising as high, thus preventing her car from being scraped.

By HILLARY FEDERICO, hfederico@courant.com and The Hartford Courant, March 12, 2011

William Stewart, 58, a former police officer who police say was assaulted by a family friend on Saturday, was in serious condition at Yale-New Haven Hospital. Neal Amendola, 36, of 6 Patrick Lane, was arrested and charged with first-degree assault, and was being held on $500,000 bail, police said Stewart went to the home of Amendola to help fix a garage door, according to police. While he was there, Stewart was hit several times with a blunt object, police said. We tell you what's happening, when it happens, for FREE: Sign-up for Breaking News Mobile Subscribe to our Breaking News E-mails Try the News@3 Newsletter

By HILLARY FEDERICO, hfederico@courant.com and The Hartford Courant, August 19, 2012

A fire that damaged a home on Field Road Saturday evening was found to have originated in a gun storage room and is not suspicious, though the exact cause is unknown, police and fire officials said. Around 6:30 p.m., police said a general alarm was activated for a fire at 89 Field Road. When police arrived on scene, they found all of the outside doors to the house locked but a garage door was left open about three feet, police said. Officers entered the garage and smelled smoke.

Today's vehicles are technological wonders. Managing the latest features, however, is proving to be an ongoing challenge for both dealers and customers. Theoretically, technical advancements should make our lives simpler. Unfortunately, it doesn't always work that way, especially in the "connected" car. Connected cars are vehicles that allow you to merge cell phone and vehicle functions while in the vehicle. Many such systems require that you sync your car to your smartphone, where you can then enjoy hands-free wireless communications and other services, such as Internet radio and access to all the functions associated with the "apps" on your phone.